The German Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, requires his nation to alter its relationship with Turkey, the place his household comes from, in view of the most recent electoral victory of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turks residing in Germany who participated within the presidential elections of Turkey overwhelmingly voted for Erdogan.
Germany remains to be engaged on what Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz has referred to as a “time of change” or “period of change” in German-Russian relations however, in gentle of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s current victory in Turkey, there are already requires extra. geopolitical upheavals. Specifically, he’s asking for it with respect to Turkey, his agriculture minister, the environmentalist Cem Özdemir.
“The turnaround that we have now lastly achieved, thank God, in coping with Putin is now mandatory in coping with Turkish ultranationalism as properly,” in line with Özdemir.
Now, the weight-reduction plan that appears to concern Özdemir essentially the most, after Erdoğan got here out on high late final month in Turkey’s presidential election, is the political weight-reduction plan of Turkish residents residing in Germany. He himself comes from a modest household of Turkish origin. His father and his mom arrived in Germany within the early Nineteen Sixties in these waves of labor migration that the Teutonic financial miracle wanted on the time.
Özdemir is, nevertheless, a number one determine of The Greens for many years. Perhaps his is the best-known face of that left-wing celebration, together with that of Robert Habeck, Vice Chancellor and Minister of the Economy, and Annalena Baerbock, head of the Foreign Affairs portfolio. When it involves the German-Turkish relationship, and doubtless due to his biography, Özdemir is somebody who is commonly heard within the German public debate.
What he has to say, provided that Turkey as soon as once more has one other Erdogan mandate earlier than it, is that it could be handy for Germany to signal an “period of change” just like the one which Berlin has initiated with regard to Russia after Moscow’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine.
“The turnaround that we have now lastly achieved, thank God, in coping with Putin is now additionally mandatory in coping with Turkish ultranationalism, in coping with fundamentalism,” Özdemir mentioned on the day of the Turkish electoral hangover, additionally alluding to to Erdogan’s Islamist inspiration By such a assertion it’s understood right here that Özdemir “just isn’t a buddy of Erdogan”, in line with the phrases of the Bild newspaper, essentially the most broadly learn newspaper in Germany.
According to the German statistics portal Statista, there are about 1.5 million Turks residing in Germany. This group is undoubtedly essentially the most seen minority in Germany. That is why the presidential elections in Turkey have had a particular influence right here. Above all, figuring out that Germany is especially an vital fishing floor for votes for Erdogan. With the exception of Turkey, there should not as many Turks in some other nation as in Germany.
In the second spherical of the presidential elections in May, round 67% of the votes of the Turks who voted in Germany served to maintain Erdogan in energy. The appointment with the polls had an unusually “excessive” participation in Germany, in line with assessments of the German political chronicle.
In some areas, resembling Essen, an vital metropolis in western Germany, and its environment, as much as 77.6% of voters voted for Erdogan, in line with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. In Berlin, the place there are neighborhoods like Kreuzberg, which comprise areas right here nicknamed “little Istanbul”, Erdogan was voted by 49.2%. Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, the rival of the re-elected president, additionally misplaced within the capital (48.6%).
“Germany votes for Erdogan”
Hence, one of many headlines within the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the elections learn: “Germany votes for Erdogan”. This actuality is, for Özdemir, an indication that “German pluralist democracy” has been rejected. That was what the ecologist politician mentioned in view of how the Turks residing in Germany celebrated the electoral victory of their “president”. Many did it by parading with flags in columns of automobiles all through Germany.
Celebrating “honking the horn as a result of somebody has received an election that turns the nation right into a form of open jail, whereas they right here get pleasure from the advantages of a liberal democracy” is one thing Özdemir has tried to insurgent in opposition to.
Die #Tuerkei hat gewählt. Mich interessiert was in 🇩🇪 los ist, wo die Anhänger von #Erdogan feiern, ohne für die Folgen ihrer Wahl einstehen zu müssen. Das müssen viele Menschen in der 🇹🇷 durch Armut & Unfreiheit. Sie sind zurecht wütend. Darüber wird zu reden sein!
— Cem Özdemir (@cem_oezdemir) May 28, 2023
“Türkiye has voted. I’m taken with what is occurring in Germany, the place Erdogan’s supporters rejoice him with out having to reply for the implications of his election. That is what many individuals in Turkey need to do, in poverty and with out freedom”, criticized the Minister of Agriculture on social networks.
Türkiye, a “hybrid regime” in lack of democratic standing
Özdemir needs, with statements like these, to attract consideration to the like-minded public that somebody like Erdogan has in Germany, president of a rustic thought-about a “hybrid regime” because of the “rising autocratic character” of its head of state, in line with the phrases of the ” Democracy Index” produced yearly by the Intelligence Unit of the British publication The Economist.
In the final ten years wherein Erdogan has been in energy, the nation has suffered a “democratic decline”, they point out within the 2022 version of that prestigious report on the state of democracy on the earth. On account of the Turkish presidential elections, in mentioned index they perceive that the “democratic standing” of Turkey relied on the results of mentioned appointment with the polls.
The alarms of ultranationalism and fundamentalism that Özdemir has tried to activate in Germany after Erdogan’s electoral victory don’t appear to have any influence on the highest ranges of the Government of which he is a component as Minister of Agriculture.
Özdemir complains, Scholz congratulates Erdogan
Otherwise, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wouldn’t have signed a congratulations just like the one expressed by the German chief govt after studying of the Turkish president’s victory. There was no concern in her, solely pertinent flattery.
Deutschland und die Türkei sind enge Partner und Alliierte – auch gesellschaftlich und wirtschaftlich sind wir stark miteinander verbunden. Gratulation an President Erdoğan zur Wiederwahl. Nun wollen wir unsere gemeinsamen Themen mit frischem Elan vorantreiben.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) May 28, 2023
“Germany and Turkey are shut companions and allies, we even have sturdy social and financial ties. Congratulations to President Erdogan on his re-election. Now we wish to push our widespread affairs ahead with renewed vigour,” Scholz mentioned.
As a lot as Özdemir worries about what it means to have big numbers of Erdogan voters on German soil, there are not any indicators of radical political change concerning Turkey. Nothing to do with what has occurred with Russia since Moscow began its unlawful struggle of aggression in opposition to Ukraine.
Germany has consequently damaged with its coverage of proximity to Russia, has change into unbiased of Russian power sources and, amongst different issues, has radically modified its place on the cargo of weapons of struggle to battle zones. There is nothing prefer it on the horizon for German-Turkish relations, regardless of Erdogan’s new victory.
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